Wednesday, February 28, 2018

I once wrote about weird camera effects that touched on the rolling shutter phenomenon that makes weird stuff happen to images taken with video cameras. Now that panoramic photos are widely available on phones, you see them more and more often. Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day explains the rolling shutter effect and why it happens. Wait until you see what the effect does to a fidget spinner, a guitar, and a spinning coin! (via Everlasting Blort)

Gâteau Gato means "cat cake," but this is much more. Artist Alexandre Dubosc created a beautiful chocolate zoetrope that displays animated cats! Yeah, how could anyone combine chocolate cake, cats, and animation and not have a winner? You'll recognize Maneki Neko playing the piano, Felix, Nyan Cat, Yin-Yang Cat, and Grumpy Cat on this cake. There are other cats, plus mice, fish, and a big cat head on top with teeth! Notice the different language spellings of the word "meow" as well. (via Laughing Squid)

The Oscars will be awarded this weekend. Most of the movies up for Best Picture came out late in 2017, which is the traditional time for epic dramas that get nominated, so Screen Junkies haven't done takedowns on most of them yet. They fixed that, by giving the Honest Trailer treatment to all nine nominees for Best Picture.

Jon Townsend (previously) cooks up a little macaroni and cheese from a recipe published in 1784. Along the way, we get a bit of history about the term "macaroni" in the sense that it was used in the song "Yankee Doodle." But that has nothing to do with food. This dish is pretty basic, but sounds delicious. Several comments under the video asked where the nutmeg is. I had never heard of macaroni and cheese with nutmeg, but apparently there are a lot of recipes that call for it. Townsends has their own blog about historical recipes and food, aimed at use in reenactments, called Savoring the Past. (via reddit)

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

The main characters of The Last Jedi discuss why they once again were passed over for Academy Awards. Happens every time. What do all those other nominees have that they don't? Another gem from the folks at How It Should Have Ended. The Oscars will be bestowed this Sunday, a little later than usual because of the Winter Games.

It's a wet day in Davao City, Philippines, and this elderly man is at the market with his dog. Before taking off on his bike, he lovingly tends to the dog, to make sure he stays dry all through the ride. The dog would probably be okay with getting wet, but he allows himself to be pampered, because he loves his man, too. Besides, neither of them wants to smell a wet dog. (via reddit)

This is a peculiar video that will affect Star Wars fans differently depending on whether they are gamers are not. YouTuber UndeadPathfinder_ recreated the final showdown between Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren using the video game Star Wars Battlefront II. Those familiar with the limits of the game are quite impressed, as they know how difficult this project had to be. They particularly praise the work and skill shown in synching the dialogue to the characters.

Those who have never played Battlefront II get a different vibe, right into the uncanny valley. The voices say the characters are real, while the graphics say no. We can still appreciate the work that went into it. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Monday, February 26, 2018

"Any idiot that wants to make a couple of thousand drawings for a hundred feet of film is welcome to join the club." -Winsor McCay

Popular lore has it that the 1927 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first animated feature film. That's not true at all, and how many came before that depends on how you define "feature film" and how you define "animated." Let's take a good look into the history of animation in film. The Royal Ocean Film Society shows us the various milestones of early cartoons and how they became the most imaginative motion pictures ever. They had to admit one mistake -the photograph of Earl Hurd is actually one of Frank Thomas. (via Boing Boing)

Fecal Microbiota Transplants have become the "magic bullet," so to speak, in the battle against C. diff, a dangerous antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria. C. diff is opportunistic, and tends to take up residence in a patient who has already used antibiotics to kill off other harmful bacteria -which killed off beneficial bacteria as well. In this video, Dr. Mark Smith explains how and why fecal transplants work. Science writer Ed Yong tries to keep a straight face amid Smith's potty humor. The upshot is that when we overdo modern techniques, such as antibiotics, we often provoke new and unforeseen problems with it. The solution can be to go back to ancient traditional remedies and let nature do her work. (via Digg)

Popular Canadian DIY and engineering YouTuber AvE is deep into explaining the work of a fixed displacement oil pump when his young daughter comes into the shop. The two minutes cute enough to melt the coldest heart as he kisses her booboo ("ouch ouch") and explains what he's doing. Yeah, you're welcome to watch all ten minutes of engineering if you like. Those who follow his channel says AvE makes anything interesting and easy to follow. (via reddit)

Story time! Thor, along with Þjálfi and Loki, went on a journey to the land of giants. The king of the giants gave them challenges, several of them for Thor, which they failed. Thor isn't used to defeat. What can he do? The end of the tale shows how everything in the story is an analogy, and the effects of the challenges are the reasons the story was told in the first place. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Let Greig Johnson introduce you to the "ancient, elegant instrument" known as the shenanigan. Okay, you won't learn how to play it from this video, but you can watch him give it a go and enjoy the music. This video has subtitles, but don't focus on them. You can probably understand what he's saying ...somewhat. On second thought, you should listen and watch the subtitles at the same time. Trust me. And don't miss the details of the shenanigan. You may have to watch more than once. (via Tastefully Offensive)

Archie has the perfect way to stop skyjacking, which was a thing in the 1970s. What could possibly go wrong? It was laughable on All In The Family forty years ago, but today there are people, even people in powerful positions, who think like this.

Hold my beer! Watch as a spectator decides he can do it better, and jumps into a Piper Cub that's already started up. It won't take long for you to realize this is a staged act from an airshow. The pilot is Kyle Franklin, who's been doing this all his life. (via reddit)

Friday, February 23, 2018

You've probably heard about how Robert Johnson met the devil at the crossroads in Mississippi and sold his soul for the ability to play guitar better than anyone before. Johnson let folks believe that if they wanted, and even capitalized on the tale in his songs. Whatever happened to take him from beginner to virtuoso, he was far from the first musician to make that bargain, if the legends are to be believed. These stories abound because some performers are so good that no one could believe they achieved that level of virtuosity on their own. Talent and hard work were dismissed in favor of a supernatural explanation. Polyphonic brings us a chronological account of the many tales of incredible talent attributed to a Faustian deal. (via Laughing Squid)

Oh, what a brave new world our unventors and engineers have developred for us! If they can't solve world hunger or bring peace among nations, at least they can scare the living daylights out of us. Programmer Abhishek Singh made an augmented reality program that recreates the iconic scene from The Ring in which Samara/Sadako climbs out of the TV. You know the one. It's pretty creepy.
She's even able to follow the viewer around as you try to escape. While it's not perfect, this does show the terrifying possibilities for the technology and what it can be used for. (via Gizmodo)

The Walking Dead returns this Sunday night, after a three month break in the middle of season eight. If you've ever heard the show's opening theme, you know that it's not the sort of song that lends itself to lyrics. The Warp Zone took that as a challenge. The lyrics they used, if you can keep up with them, bring to mind the growing theory that our heroes are actually the bad guys of the series. Not that we'd ever root against them, but they do tend to leave a wide path of destruction in their wake. On reflection, that's to be expected. When you have a big special effects department working hard on zombies all the time, you have to reward them with the opportunity to burn things down and blow things up occasionally. (via Tastefully Offensive)

Thursday, February 22, 2018

A bear riding a sidecar in traffic uses sign language and asks for a horn, which he blows. You might think for a minute that this is a guy in a bear suit. I did, too. No, it's just Russia. (via reddit)

Michael Callaghan decided it was time that he got to know his neighbors, and he came up with a genius way to do it: ask them for a favor, and make it fun! He went door to door and asked each neighbor to come over and dance with him for a music video. He didn't mention if anyone refused, but plenty of them said yes. While you're doing something like this, you get to know their names, interests, and how friendly they are. Or at least how well they dance. When he throws a party, he'll know exactly who to invite. He's trying to start a trend with #NeighborDanceChallenge. We'll see how that goes. (via Tastefully Offensive)

How Four Undergrads Got the Scoop on the Unabomber. When news outlets couldn't get to Montana in time, J-school volunteers went into action.

Kottabos, the Ancient Greek Drinking Game. The skill involved was flinging wine from one's own cup at a target.

The Poor People's Campaign. “The systemic poverty and racism America faces today was not inevitable,” the statement continues. “It is the result of choices made by politicians and corporations.” (via Metafilter)

How Creedence Clearwater Revival Became the Soundtrack to Every Vietnam War Movie. It's not only because those songs take you to that specific era.

Owen KC Stephens tells a wonderful story about the time an elderly British couple wanted to learn how to play a Star Wars role-playing game. They didn't know what a role-playing game was, but they knew what they were doing. (via Metafilter)

These Freaky Fish Can Turn Their Eyes Into Flashlights. The triplefin is tiny, but controls its own super power.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Four-year-old Nathan Mezquida tells a story he made up about dinosaurs. His dad, Allen Mezquida, animated his drawings to tell it.

Nathan spends hours drawing every day, mostly dinosaurs. He also loves watching BBC documentaries about dinosaurs. Next thing I knew, we were working on this short film together. Nathan was very clear about the story he wanted to tell and how he wanted it to look. He said he wanted it to be very real, "never cartoony." I did my best to stay true to his vision.

Papa can't find his phone. It rings, but it's not in his pockets. It's not in his car. When he walks away, no one can hear the ringing, so it must be on him somewhere. Can all the assembled family members help him find it? The best part of this video is his sense of humor about the whole thing. The mystery will be solved by the end of this video. (via Laughing Squid)

Students in Parkland, Florida, have organized a nationwide protest to push for gun control legislation after 17 of their classmates were murdered on Valentines Day. And now the donations are rolling in for March For Our Lives.

George and Amal, I couldn’t agree with you more. I am joining forces with you and will match your $500,000 donation to ‘March For Our Lives.’ These inspiring young people remind me of the Freedom Riders of the 60s who also said we’ve had ENOUGH and our voices will be heard.

Han Solo: lovable rogue, smuggler, Rebellion hero, scruffy-looking nerf-herder. He had plenty of talents, and first among those was the ability to deliver a line perfectly. He did it again and again in four different films so far, with another one coming in May (albeit without Harrison Ford). Put those lines together with cadence, make them rhyme somewhat, and you've got a tribute remix from Eclectic Method. Eclectic Method (Jonny Wilson) has done quite a few of these Star Wars remixes, compiled here. (via Tastefully Offensive)

Police in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, were on the lookout for a suspect in the robbery of a farmer's market. A witness provided a sketch of the perpetrator, which was shown on the local TV station. The response by newscaster Ethan Forhetz is priceless. Considering he was winging the news as it came in, he kept his cool pretty well. Now, lest you think this is a police sketch, it's not. It was drawn by a witness. Yet it was enough to lead police to identify 44-year-old Hung Phuoc Nguyen, who was still on the loose at the time of the report. It turns out that police were familiar with Nguyen already, and honestly recognized him from the sketch. (via reddit)

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Screen Junkies looks at Justice League and tackles the question: What went wrong? They had the opportunity to improve on Batman v Superman, and try to catch the magic of Wonder Woman, but that didn't happen. They came down to three answers: the color scheme, bad CGI, the depressing heroes, and the lame villain. Oh, that's four. But there's even more in this Honest Trailer for Justice League.

There's a chair on the beach. Right there, by itself, with no one sitting in it. Not the kind of thing you come across every day. The smallest thing can make a man feel territorial, and raise his competitive hackles. At the same time, we have evolved the ability to calculate possible outcomes before engaging in conflict.

What's universal about the video is how well it depicts the weird stuff that goes on in our minds all the time about things that don't matter, the internal monologue that we'd never share on purpose. Or maybe that's just me. This subtly ridiculous short film is from Bridge Stuart. No, it's not a Tide ad, but it would have been a good one. (via Digg)

Monday, February 19, 2018

Dolly Parton is an acclaimed singer, yet few outside the country music world know her as a songwriter. If she had never sung a note, she'd be a rich woman for a little tune called "I Will Always Love You." Dolly recorded the song and took it to #1 in 1974 and then again in 1982. And you probably remember how well it did in 1992 when Whitney Houston sang it in the movie The Bodyguard. But when the song was still fresh, she was approached by one Colonel Tom Parker about Elvis Presley recording the song she wrote. Dolly said no. Mark Levin wrote and performed a little song about the incident, with charming stop-motion animation by Heather Colbert. Why did Dolly turn down the offer? According to Wikipedia:

When the 1974 recording of the song was reaching number one on the country charts, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded.[15] Parton refused. She recalls:

I said, 'I'm really sorry,' and I cried all night. I mean, it was like the worst thing. You know, it's like, Oh, my God … Elvis Presley.' And other people were saying, 'You're nuts. It's Elvis Presley.' ...I said, 'I can't do that. Something in my heart says, 'Don't do that. And I just didn't do it... He would have killed it. But anyway, so he didn't. Then when Whitney [Houston's version] came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland.[16]

Spider-Man doesn't spend all his time fighting crime. Every once in a while, he has to go out and pick up a few things at the store. And if there's a good song playing, he gets the urge to dance! YouTuber Ghetto Spider put on a show for other shoppers, who all pulled out their phones because no one would believe this otherwise. (via mille batson)‏